At this age, even as a mid-level officer, he is not quite qualified.
After all, not everyone is Li Siyuan. At the age of fifty-one, he can still charge directly into the Khitan army, charge left and right, capture the thieves and return.
Not everyone is Shao Sheng. At the age of forty-seven, he is still galloping and hunting, and Gatling is full of firepower.
So he retreated. But he didn't retreat completely, because now he is the Yuhou Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an eighth-rank official.
On the surface of Fengze Lake, the water ripples and birds and gulls gather.
On the grassland by the lake, a shepherd boy is tending sheep.
The sheep were brought from the northwest and were said to be resistant to certain diseases. Liu Renyu didn't understand much and didn't remember them.
He only knew that the imperial court was really persistent in developing all kinds of weird sheep breeds, some of which were actually useful, such as producing more wool.
In his reverie, he had arrived in front of a newly built house.
His former state soldiers stood outside, trying their best to maintain order. The Tutuan villagers who returned home from Hebei were called by county and township units, and received their rewards one by one.
Chu Zhongye also came and exchanged greetings with Liu Renyu.
"Is it all woolen cloth shipped from Kansai?" Chu Zhongye asked.
"There are three roads in Guanbei, Zhili, and Guannei. There are also some Huangzhuang properties, but not many. The big warehouse is located here for convenience." Huangzhuang Zhuangzheng replied.
Chu Zhongye picked up a piece of woolen cloth with his hands. It felt quite heavy, much heavier than silk.
"The saint worked really hard for the people of Guanxi." Chu Zhongye put down the cloth and said: "For more than a hundred years, Guanxi has been declining day by day. Even the rewards of the Shence Army have to be transported from Guanxi to silk. Now they are transported eastward.
First time seeing you."
It’s not that Guanxi doesn’t produce silk. In fact, even places like Suizhou, Xiazhou, and Yinzhou produced silk in the pre-Tang Dynasty. However, due to various reasons, the output was not high and the quality was not very good. People say
The "miscellaneous silk" doesn't even have a name.
Everyone feels that the climate in the past twenty years has become colder in winter.
When he was the governor of Suizhou, there were Suizhou silks. But today, in the fifth year of Jianji, traces of Suizhou silks are hard to find. There may be many factors, but the weather cannot be ignored.
In this case, the situation is a little bad. Where does Sergeant Guanbei's reward come from?
Maybe we can adjust Guanzhong and transport silk from Shannan to the north, but today, when Guanzhong's silk production is declining day by day, treating the symptoms will not cure the root cause.
The use of non-silk cloth to give out rewards existed in the pre-Tang Dynasty. In fact, it was also made of animal hair - broken pieces such as linen were not available.
The sage made preparations twenty years ago for a rainy day, but now he has achieved some success and has a solution: use woolen cloth to reward him.
"Actually, warriors didn't like woolen cloth very much at first." Liu Renyu said, "If this thing hadn't been really useful, it might have caused a lot of noise and chaos."
The magical function is to keep out the cold. As the weather gets colder and colder, woolen cloth is really useful and a necessity, so the warriors accepted it.
"Indeed." Chu Zhongye said with a smile: "Don't look at February 2, I haven't taken off my sweater yet."
Why is silk so popular that it can be used as money? In fact, it can be made into clothes, which is its most original and original function. As time goes by, due to the lack of precious metal currency, people have to use other items to replace it.
For example, food and cloth - these are the basic necessities of life.
When the Great Xia court paid salaries to officials, copper coins accounted for a very small proportion, and grain and silk were the bulk. Even the dried meat distributed during festivals also assumed the function of currency the moment it was distributed to officials.
.
Woolen cloth is also in urgent need now, and it has the potential to be used as currency, especially with the help of cold weather.
Liu Renyu also wore a sweater. At this time, he was also paying close attention to the expression of Xiang Yong who was receiving the reward with his ticket. After a long time, he whispered: "Fu Cheng, from what I see, the soldiers still prefer silk.
"
"How can things that have been used for many years be reversed so quickly?" Chu Zhongye said: "Besides, silks are divided into three, six, and nine grades. Everyone wants Qinghe silk, but how is that possible?"
No one can challenge the reputation of Beizhou Qinghe silk. Because of its dense texture, heavy weight, wear resistance, and beauty, it has always been the best reward in the military.
Elsewhere, the quality of silk fabrics varies.
Silk weaving technology in Xiangyang and even Hubei Province further south has improved in recent years, probably because many Weibo immigrants migrated there, bringing Hebei's advanced textile technology with them.
But the textiles produced locally are still different from those in Hebei. In short, they are like a fusion of the styles of the two places, highlighting a beautiful, beautiful and light texture, just like the silks in Xuanzhou and Hangzhou in the south of the Yangtze River.
However, this kind of thing is more popular among the upper class society, but it is unacceptable to warriors.
They will think that you are cutting corners. The same piece of Jiangnan silk uses less silk than Henan silk and more Hebei silk. Although the style is beautiful, I think you are cheating me.
There is no way, the military attaches great importance to practicality. What they want is beauty and durability. Historically, the Song Dynasty paid compensation to the Jin State. The Jin people cursed and returned all the Hangzhou silks, asking for Hebei and Henan silks to make up for it. In fact, this is
reason.
Outside of Hebei silk, the reputation of Banan silk cloth has skyrocketed in recent years. Gradually, the silk produced in all prefectures and counties in Qianshan Nanxi Road has been dubbed Banan silk cloth. Even Weizhou and Minzhou have recently
This silk weaving production area has developed over the past twenty years, and the silk it produces is also falsely called Banan silk cloth.
Regardless of its origin, the overall quality of Banan cloth is relatively constant, and it is also popular among the military. It has always been an important part of military rewards.
Woolen cloth is something from another dimension.
From the current point of view, the quality is similar in various places, at least not as different as the origin of silk. At the same time, it is thick and strong, giving people the impression that the materials are sufficient.
For all these reasons, it was possible to use woolen cloth instead of silk as a military reward.
"Let's not talk about this anymore." Chu Zhongye left the reward site and said: "Since the warriors accepted it, the amount of woolen cloth rewards will be gradually increased in the future. According to Zhao Shaojian, a total of 400,000 pieces of woolen cloth were distributed last year.
It’s amazing. There may be more this year. As a major wool cloth producing area, Kansai is really in a good time.”
An area that should have been gradually sinking into poverty has the possibility of coming back to life. Could it be that the saint really has the ability to change his destiny against the will of heaven?
Chu Zhongye saw clearly that the three-crop rotation system in Daxing, Kansai, was gradually becoming unworkable when it was implemented in Henan Province.
There are too many factors such as dense population, complex land rights, lack of connectivity, and even sheep that are suitable for Henan's climate. As a result, there are still mulberry forests in Henan and Huaihai states, and people weave silk in their spare time.
Lord.
They need to import woolen cloth to keep out the cold, which gives the people of Kansai an opportunity to harvest a lot of profits from Kanto. However, in the past hundred years or so, their ability has become weaker and weaker. Kanto, Kansai
The comparison of economic strength has reached a staggering level.
Saint, he really changed the world and deserved to win the country.
******
In the Qianliang Prince's Mansion in Bianzhou, Queen Zhe Fangxiao was reading a book.
The daughter-in-law-in-law Yueniang and the adopted daughter Juaniang took out the milk, butter, tea and sugar, made a pot of tea together, and brought it over.
Zhe Fangmai took a sip and looked a little startled.
There is sugar in the milk tea, and this is how it tastes when the official family is around.
Generally speaking, this kind of milk tea is filled with green salt, and Zhe Fang Ai is used to the taste of salty milk tea. Only the official family loves sweet milk tea. Zhe Fang Ai has not drank this kind of milk tea for a long time since he was born in Beidu.
A flavorful tea.
"The sugar is good, it must be Shenzhou sugar." Zhe Fang Ai put down the tea cup and smiled at the two of them.
"Yes." Niang Juan said, "Woyang Palace sent someone to deliver it."
She was the daughter of Li Renmei, and was later raised by Pei Zhenyi and was canonized as a princess.
The bordering states actually produce more or less sugar.
The source of sugar is sea beet, which has been introduced for some years and is still being cultivated repeatedly in an effort to find varieties with higher sugar content.
"Are the people in Woyang Palace living a good life?" Zhe Fang Ai asked casually.
"It's much better than before." The cuckoo girl said directly: "In the past, if there was any disaster, the government would provide relief. Now, in my free time, I weave woolen cloth and plant some land. Even if there is a white disaster in winter, it is not completely difficult to survive.
.”
Near Woyang Palace, the conditions for agricultural farming are not very good. The tribesmen mainly graze livestock, and the limited land is used for planting, but there are few who grow food, and there are many who grow sea beets. The herdsmen are not stupid, they found that planting
Pressing sugar from sea beets and then exchanging it for grain will yield more, and much more. The sugar pressing technology was undoubtedly taught by people sent by the imperial court.
With Woyang Palace being both a management institution and a trading market, and also a business of weaving wool, growing vegetables and pressing sugar, the followers of Woyang Palace would not run around.
And their experience can be extended to many places.
The environment of places like Khitan is better than that around Woyang Palace. If you build a city in a perfect location and attract merchants, craftsmen and other craftsmen to settle down, you can encircle a large area of grassland around it.
In addition to artificial pasture boundaries, the most important thing that traps them is economic ties.
Politically integrated into the ruling system and economically integrated into the unified market, it is possible to achieve effects that are difficult to achieve by military conquest.
"The palaces are my old supporter of the Shao family. They live a good life and can save a lot of troubles." Zhe Fangxiao said: "Mother Juan, are you willing to——"
The cuckoo girl's face turned pale, and she was filled with conflict, but she didn't dare to say it out loud.
"That's all." Zhe Fangmai sighed and said, "We'll talk about it later. There are some things that I'm not good at. Although a man is old and homeless, he still has to make the decision in everything."
The cuckoo girl finally had blood on her face.
Yueniang glanced at her silently, with some sympathy in her heart. She had escaped the disaster for the time being, but when she arrived in Beidu, the queen probably wouldn't have time to worry about this matter.
There are more and more women around the official family. This time the Queen brought Concubine Zhao, Concubine Feng Shu and others with her. I wonder what the scene will be like.
King Zhao——should have returned from Anton Mansion...
